RYDER LAW FIRM

6739 MYERS ROAD

EAST SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 13057
ryderlawfirm@gmail.com
Phone: 315-382-3617
Fax: 315-295-2502

NOTICE OF CLAIM

September 27, 2023

Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department

407 South State Street
Syracuse, NY 13202

To Whom It May Concern:

As a condition precedent to the commencement of an action or special proceeding against

a public corporation, a notice of claim shall be in writing, sworn to by or on behalf of the
claimant, and shall set forth: (1) the name and post-office address of each claimant, and of his
attorney; (2) the nature of the claim; (3) the time when, the place where and the manner in which
the claim arose; and (4) damage or injuries claimed to have been sustained. N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law
§ 50-e. Claimant , as administratrix of the Estate of minor Dhal Apet (“Dhal”) hereby
places the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department on notice of the following facts and
circumstances giving rise to their forthcoming claims to redress the harms they have incurred.
The claims arise from the shooting death of Dhal by Onondaga County Sheriff’s
Department Deputy John Rosello (“Rosello”) on September 6, 2023.
In the early morning hours of September 6, 2023, Rosello responded to a call of
suspicious activity in DeWitt, New York. Upon arriving at the scene of the suspicious activity
Rosello immediately drove and smashed his patrol vehicle into the front of the vehicle that Dhal
occupied as a passenger. A second vehicle drove away from the scene at a high rate of speed and
the driver of the vehicle Dhal occupied panicked. He then began to back away from Rosello’s
patrol vehicle and then sped between Rosello and his patrol vehicle as he fled the scene. As the

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vehicle passed between Rosello and his patrol vehicle, Rosello made the conscious decision to
begin firing his service weapon at the passenger’s side and back of the vehicle. Despite Rosello
firing multiple gun shots into the passenger’s side and back of the vehicle, the driver was able to
escape the scene and the vehicle was found abandoned in the City of Syracuse. Dhal and another
passenger, Lueth Mo, who was found clinging to life from a gunshot wound, were found in the
abandoned vehicle. Dhal was found dead in the vehicle from a gunshot wound. The driver of the
vehicle was able to escape, along with the individuals in the second vehicle that fled the scene.
Rosello’s conscious decision to fire his service weapon at the fleeing vehicle is in direct
violation of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department Subject Management Policy.
Specifically, Section V.A. 1. and 5. c., which state as follows:
A. Parameters for use of deadly physical force:
1. Members are authorized to use deadly physical force only, to protect
the member or others from what is reasonably believed to be a threat
of death or serious physical injury. Members are authorized to use
deadly physical force in accordance with Article 35 of the NYS Penal
Law, Tennessee v. Garner and Sheriff’s Office rules, regulations,
policies and procedures as they pertain to the use of force.
5. Members shall adhere to the following restrictions when their weapon
is exhibited:
c. The decision to discharge a firearm at or from a moving vehicle
shall be governed by V. A. 1. of this written directive and is
prohibited if the discharge of the firearm presents an unreasonable
risk to the member, other members of service or the public.
In an attempt to justify Rosello’s decision to shoot his service weapon into the
passenger’s side and back of the fleeing vehicle, Sheriff Shelley, in defending the deputy, said
that Rosello was not able to get out of the car’s way because he was in a narrow space between
his patrol vehicle and the workbench. That led him to fire the three shots, he said. “He had
nowhere to flee to. This whole thing happens in seconds. He had no options.”
After the New York State Attorney General’s Office released surveillance video of the
interaction which directly contradicted Shelley’s rendition of the facts as he presented them to
the public and the families of the deceased minor boys, he continued to double down on his
support for Rosello’s decision to shoot at the passenger’s side and back of the fleeing vehicle
being driven by an unknown individual, causing the death of two minor passengers.
The above narrative of events more than substantially supports claims for federal
constitutional rights violations, as well as state statutory and common law causes of action.

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 On account of such egregious and intentional violations, both the Estate of Dhal Apet and
Dhal himself, were caused to sustain and suffer a spectrum of physical, psychological, emotional
injuries including but not limited to, conscious pain and suffering, imminent fear of death,
wrongful death, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, mental and emotional
distress, humiliation, fear, and discomfort, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience and
protractive suffering, destruction of earning capacity, punitive damages, exemplary damages, and
any and all compensatory damages, both present and future, and other damages, injuries, and
consequences that are found to be related to the incidents alleged, and any other damages
permitted by law.

Dated: September 27, 2023

Jesse P. Ryder, Esq.

As attorney for the claimant

Sworn to before me this

27th day of September, 2023

____________________
Notary Public